jleamont

Rick, glad to hear it was simple. Kind of scary that there was no behind the wheel test but I guess its good for you. I am glad you posted back now I do not have to babysit my friend when he goes for it. I am surprised they didn't hand you the license at that time, they usually print them on the spot, you smile they take the picture and you leave. Is it going to be a card to keep with your current license until it expires?

From experience, the engines between 2007-2011 were more prone to problems, just like this with most if not all USA engine manufactures. The regulations came so fast they were all scrambling to make it work for survival and the economy was crashing around them in the process they all were working with tight budgets to make the required emissions work to survive. Not to make excuses for them but the industry was a mess at the time. I cant count how many EGR coolers I have replaced since their introduction in 2003-2004, then they got worse when the particulate filter technology came along. I was so frustrated as a Technician I bailed out of the dealership side and went into fleet management to get away from it. Hopefully it works out for you. Cummins is a good company I would be surprised if they left you hanging.

The reason I ask was we have at least 400 DD13's at work, we run Shell Rotella 10w30 full synthetic with Baldwin filters and we see a million miles from them. Great engine! We run the 15w40 on the Series 60's that are still floating around. I guess the filter would be hard to find in an RV application especially since its a canister type and its location, . I would be curious how that engine bay is constructed with a DD13 back there, I hope it at least has a side radiator to give some room. Just curious.....thanks

I disassembled the front hubs, wiped all of the grease out, inspected the bearings and races, replaced the seals (which are the same for grease or oil) reassembled and filled with 80W90 synthetic gear lube. All of my brakes are air drum and were replaced last march. I have seen people wipe the grease from the outer bearing and just replace the hub cap with the oil bath type and fill'em up with gear oil. Then just change it out every few months or not. You will mostly see this on Semi Trailers, then the grease/oil combination turns into a slurry, but holds up. Herman, not much different from a trailer bearing design only larger.

Crossing in May with the toad, this is the reason we will not bring the coach to Canada, I don't want to deal with the chance of them getting a wild hair to search the coach, that will waste my time. So we decided to take the Jeep over, they can search that it couldn't take more than 20 minutes. I have no desire to go to Mexico and Canada is a once and done as far as I am concerned. I told the DW we will only go to the NY side of the falls, I stuck to my gun's! So as I am booking our trip to Canada.......lol ....

Thanks, I found them online places like www.Iowa80.com have plenty to choose from. Typical on line....shipping cost more than the caps . I want to be able to keep an eye on the oil level without pulling the current cover off, (it actually does fit over them), since there is not much room for error with the oil level.

Five, what oil and filter do you run in your Detroit? Which DD is it? 11 or 13?

Herman, does your steer axle have the hub cap with the hole in the center or does it just cover over everything?

RodgerS, Your Welcome. Sounds like you have it figured out. Good luck with your certifications they will pay off after owning any type of RV you settle on. Joe

Thanks Herman.....im laughing so hard I'm crying

Puff, thanks for the advice and link! I also need to change the front hub caps, I just switched my steer axle over to oil this past weekend and I want to purchase the center caps with the center cut out so I can keep my eye on them. Any ideas?

Hmmm, my 50 amp cord must be short. I carry a 15' 50 Amp extension cord. I have never measured what is on the reel but it is resides 4' in front of the rear tire but it will only go maybe 8-12' beyond the rear of the coach. Most of the time its fine but at least once a year I have to pull the extension out. I also carry an 20' Sewer hose extension and two water hoses, one is 15' and one is 25'. We have been a few places where all of the connections were on the passenger side (back in site) at least 10' over in the corner where 4 sites all met. A campground in Delaware comes to mind as I am typing this.

Just when I was thinking it......Herman is on the next line to say it

RodgerS, what are you trying to achieve, softer ride, less sway or less wind pushing you off the road? Here is why I ask and my story. Our previous coach was a Class C 31' on a Ford E-450 Chassis. While it didn't ride too rough down the road every car that would pass me would blow me off onto the shoulder unless I saw them coming and I could steer into it, and you would get this terrible sway like a ship getting tossed around the ocean. We had a friend travel with us once to a campground and she felt nauseated riding in it. It had Firestone Ride Rite bags in the rear when we bought it, everything else was just as it came from Ford. I replaced the sway bars with Roadmaster products (Front and Rear) I installed a rear Track bar from www.supersteerparts.com and replaced all of the shocks with Bilstein RV shocks and added front coil spring air bags (front axle was over loaded from Coachmen with the overhead bunk, it kept bottoming out shearing off the rubber jounce bushings). After it handled like a car, no more getting blown off the road, no more sway, it did ride a little bit rougher (my guess is the shocks played a part in this and the front bags helping support the suspension were the other reason). The scary part was before you knew when you were into a corner too fast, you felt like it was going over, after it didn't lean at all, which could make one think it's safe to take a corner faster when in reality it's not. I hope this helps answer some of your questions.

SARSteve, see if you can identify what vehicle manufacture your coach manufacture used the headlights from when they built your unit, if any. My coach has 1997-2006 Ford Econoline headlamps and turn signal lights in the front and 1992-1994 Ford Econoline tail lamps. Most coach manufactures just purchase other car manufactures lights to save them money on engineering costs. You might get lucky if National Tradewinds did this.

Jim, we have 2 transponders for 4 vehicles. One for the coach (never leaves) the other is the one that bounces around. I added all of the other cars to the list and we just pass it around. We tow a Jeep behind the coach, while the Jeep is in tow I put the EZ s in it's sleeve and place it in the glove box, just in case while we are exploring we have to travel on toll roads. FYI, don't forget to add any trailers you may have to the list just in case you are towing one down a toll road. It took one ticket in the mail for me to realize I needed to add them.